Balanced door mechanism



May l, 1951 c. D. MCDONALD RALANCED DooR MEcHANlsM 2 Sheefs-Sheet lFiled May 12, 1947 www May 1, 1951 c. D. MCDONALD BALANcEn DooRynEcHANISu 2 Smets-Sheet 2 Filed May 12. 194'? ,fa/nsw ro n, G? fPatented May 1, 1951 UNITED @STATES fo-Enos EALANCEDnoonMEoHnNIsMCharles: D.: McDonald, (Eilendorap Galifs-iassgnor f .to Glendora@Manufactuxtigngfompnyf Blendora, ,.Galif.,A a. .corporationaofsEalilfornia Application May 4'12, 1947, Serial No. 747,391

l 2 Claims.

This `invention is: an .improved lmechanismgof automatic doorA apparatusof the kind shown .in

.my fcopending: 'application Ser. lNo. 7 16,013,."now Pa-tenti No::2,5125864, and rothers: I'have''led.

This-door structure involves a door, such as .for

ygarages,.which -is suspended in a` slightlytoverbalanced @manner sothat it will-automatically @risefrorny a -verticalgfclosed position.L toa nearly horizontal, over 4head position,A and :can be. easily drawndown-to the closed. posi-tion :at will.

Itfis aniobject-of'the instant invention-to. pro- VVvidea novellsystem4otlpulley-sets-:to #facilitate the suspension oithegiven door initsdoor-way :frame and provide for the ready installation of acounterWeight anditsrespective pulleydevice either `immediately fina jamb-fwelland header, or'at a ldesiredposition -remote v from the ydoor .jamb 'ask-n1 a3,'1-be necessary Yinlnumerous cases of door installation. And`inthis connection it" is an` object7 to .1;1rovide an overhead, pulley`-box I' structure ofi sectional :embodiment including" complemenf -tary-casings adapted to` -be l'-iirrnly interconnected i.' in compact..association. for use Whenifthe Weight AWell-is r'closeto or :inthe-jambor maybe distally 1 mounted;` the separate icasings being?-designed 'to be compactly packed, when knocked downyina can which, whenloaded withsand or other suitv i able material, -con'stitutes -av poiseifoi'f lifting i the door (two of said cansbeing'-usediinfcombination f.forv the lifting purpose) A further 'obj ect of itheinvention is tolvprovide a simple, practical.` and v"effective means having the Vdualvfunctions"of giving the'clos'eddoor; when unlockedwan initial,rinward/openingl pullv at its :topwhileitvis .at the `same timeautomatically raised. by the connected fpoise .meansithe'sand f. :.cans).and ofV back -snubbing the .inner end of .the; nearlyhorizontal orIlifted door as it reaches ritsfullysopen position,4 and .whichsnubbi-ngleffect constitutes .a .favore'orcef when the Araised-"Cloer is beingagain and manually pulled to its closed, vertical position.

The invention resides in certain advancements in this artasf:settforthxinthe'ensuing disclosure and has, with the above,additional objects and advantages as will be made manifesti-intheiollowing description of the construction, combinations and means,and details'thereof, and of the manner of operation relative to the'herewith illustration embodiment; 'it:beingunderstood-that emodifications, variations and adaptations Vmay be resorted to` Within.the-scope,fispirit andiprincples -off the invention as it risa.rclaimedin lconclusion 'f hereof.

.iFigure..l;isafront.,elevatiornand partial section iof; the(brokenaway).v door and its-doorway and' .controlmechanismFig-uref'fzais a pla-nini fthe.. pulley. .andascableimecharsm.whose I.well W.

f ure 6` kis detail viewiii-:elevation: of: the. f'a'djustvfablepulleybracket.

Herein is shownv the left1 hand1sidefportioniof .za garage .door 2`inountedi-for bodily vertical :and 15.

. tilting#movement` :between right ihandaand A:left hand jambs, onlyonefofw'which is'shown at? 3, -liav-ing.airconnectingheader 5 alongwhich'the "top of. ithe vertical, closed ,doorstopsg Eachf jamb a' hasaver-tical guideslot 3a, Fig. 5; and, generally,

outwardly of Saidf'slotfzthe' jamb' has ai weight As fthe `iambs arefsubstan'atiallyduplicate,l de- 4fsc'riptionaof one'will suiliceforboth. :In each'slot 3a1is.arelative, verticalslidel which has atrun-L niorr i Si mounted in ythe verticalv adjacent Uedge of :fthe s100112;thezaxis ofthe trunnion being lsome- ;:what above'. the Ihorizontallcenter vline of the door alsothat-the .lower part of the door (belowtheline of the trunnionaxis) l slightly r over weighs the.doorpartabovei the axis thereby'causing the bot- -tom end ofthe; doorto constantly tend to tip down on the supporting trunnions. 'Other bal-L ancingmeansnmay be-provided From slide 1 a cable il! rises 1to apulley l I and 'I.thencealongthe header" 5Lto a pulley |2- above the@not shown) fright hand jamb andv then down :itc ainxedsaxis pulley-43yand around it up `tothe bottomfoffthe right hand slide'l,4` Fig. 1. Itwill f lbe'- seenthat: when "the rslides 1-1 rise "in synchronizationthecablel0 from the left hand side pays `outvto the .pulley i3rso that theconnected .ncablefi goesfuprwith"the'right hand slide 1.

f ilnlthesame manner of hook-up a vcablell pays -outfrorri'the'righthand slide 1 to a header pul- ,sleylizlandrthence to a'distal pulley |16at the `top fz'ofz the'left jamb 13 andthen down -in a" bight around aplley" Ilfand upto'thefl'eft'slide 1. "-'Thus''the slides are riein'ed'for 'synchronous actionsgrgoingfup orrfgoing down las the doortrunn-ions :rise .or descend.

Tofmotivate :theldoor automaticallyfin upward movement by lwayrof thel-trunnion slides l1---1 a `#motori device-is hitchedfto the slides `inafdirect mannen to ifooncurrently ap-ply as. vsubstantially :egualilifting '.momentftoithe slides. Gravityeis Directly 'whitcheditol the'slide sls'o'f#theileftfijambis aip'ower rica-ble iarwhich 4*risesftorahtandem pairf Lofguide pulleys Mib-#| and directly connects to asuitable weight such as a sand loaded can 1a: vertically movable in thewell W at jamb 3. In a like manner a cable Mx in a well at the rightjamb connects with the top of a weight Bm and extends up to and from apulley 14h of a tandem :pair and connects to the top of the respectiveright jamb slide 1. The combined weight of the equal weights la: and8:1: is somewhat more than that of the door 2 and its slides 1-1 andother attachments, so that if the door is free to rise the force ofgravity on the weights will act equally on the slide cables I [la and|411: and lift the door to overhead position.

The constant effort of the weights presses a roller 20, mounted onthetop of the door, up against a fixed overhanging track 2| extendinginward from the header 5 and reacting to cause Vthetop of the door totake a horizontal path to full open, nearly horizontal position underthe header.

A feature of the instant embodiment of the in` vention resides in adouble function, elongate tensionable elastic inthe form of a helicalspring 22, Fig. 3, one end of which is hitched pivotally at 22 to thetrack block 2lb and the other end or" which is hitched at 22x to thedoor at a point on its back face and desirably below the top edge of thedoor whose bottom is normally locked by a releasable latch 22a? ofsuitable type and thus Ystops the top of the door from being tiltedinward a-bout the trunnions 9 of the slides l, by the spring 2l. As thedoor moves to vertical or closed position the spring is put under enoughtension to instantly initiate inward tilt of the door top vjust as soonas the latch 22:1: releases the bottom of the door so that it, the door,can tilt.

The second function of the starting spring 22 is to check or snub thetop edge of the door as it approaches the full open, horizontalposition, dotted lines, Fig. 3; the length and position of hitch of thespring ends being such that as the inner, top end of the door approachesa safety stop 23 the spring loops around the door edge and forms atensioned bridle bringing the door motion' to a gradual stop.Conversely, the tensioned, looped spring 22 will aid in starting thedoor bodily back to the closed position-to overcome its inertia.

The operation of the door and its weights is obvious from the above.

It frequently happens that it will be desirable to mount the weights, oreither of them, in a more convenient location than in or close to thejambs of the given doorway frame but still retain the pulleys to whichthe synchronizing and weight cables rise directly from the slides 1.-'1;these pulleys being marked lllb and IIb being coordinate to respectivetandem pulleys Ib and |411. To facilitate the installation of the outerpulleys |00 and llib, or either of them, at a position remote from thedoor jambs and at which the Weights 'ix-8:6 are to be suspended fromsaid pulleys, each of these weight pulleys is mounted in its own casing25 which is constructed so as to be readily solidly hitched to or easilydisconnected from a respective casing 26 in which say the pulley [0b (orlb) of a tandem pair is journalled, as also is the respective smallersynchronizing cable pulleys, as I l and I6 (for the left jamb) or thevsmaller pulleys l2 and l5, of the right jamb assembly as clearly shownin Fig. 2. The said casing 25 is provided with a wallhook part 25oadapted to be'easily hooked onto a cross stay 26s iu the lower cornerofthe casing 26 as the casing 25 is telescoped for rm intert in itsrespective casing 2t; the combined casings constituting a housing or boxfor the full set of pulleys for either the left or the right jamb cablehook-up; that is, the pulley boxes are duplicate for right or leftinstallation. If a weight 'lx (811:) is to be hung remotely from itsrespective door edge, then the respective casing 25 is unhooked from itsrespective, jamb position casing 26 and mounted in a convenient positionvertically over its weight, at the remote place.

The separated casings 25 and 26, with other structural elements such asthe jambs and attachments are all adapted to be packed for shipment andstorage in the empty cans lsv- 3:13, for economical packaging andtransportation.

Door opening and closing means are set forth in the previously mentionedapplication, and of which cable 45 herein is only a part.

When the dissembled parts are knocked down for packing in the empty canslx and 8a: cable attaching bars Si) at the tops of the cans are freedfrom their fastening screws 3l and removed to clear the open tops of thecans.

To provide for reasonable change of bightlengths in the cables l0 and Itas the doors are installed, the pulleys I3 and il are mounted inrespective brackets lla, Fig. 6, which are adapted to be set in one oranother of selective grooves 1lb provided at diferent heights in thewalls of the jamb slots `30a.

Means are provided to yieldably arrest the door 2 as it comes into avertical or closed position in the doorway, and to hold it at properposition for reception of the automatic latch 22x. On the cable 19a,Fig. l, is an adjustable bumper 33, which, as the door drops to closedposition, will engage a cushion 34 fixed to the adjacent bottom face ofthe frame header and thereby stop the door and suspended weights with agentle action.

The track block 2lb is adjustable to desired position on the track 2| tosuitably tension the booster spring 22.

What is claimed is:

1. A housing for a system of wheel devices and including a pair ofassembly boxes each composed of parallel side walls xed together bycross-fasteners and each being open from end to end for clearance ofparts of the devices operative therein; the said boxes having mutuallyintertelescoping vertical, contiguous ends which nt from top to bottomfor stabilization when installed in close assembled relation.

2. The structure of claim 1, and in which one of the boxes hasindentations in the bottom edges of its side walls and which are adaptedto hook onto an adjacent one of said fasteners.

CHARLES D. MCDONALD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 631,529 McSherry Aug. 22, 1899962,404 Ogden June 21, 1910 1,191,929 Prescott July 18, 1916 1,649,861Schneider Nov. 22, 1927 1,951,059 Luton Mar. 13, 1934 2,153,359 AndersonApril 4, 1939 2,294,851 Owen Sept. 1, 1942 2,369,141 Ferris et al Feb.13, 1945 2,512,804 McDonald June 27, 1950

